lore
noun
The history or backstory of a person, character, or imagined world
What does lore mean?
A person's lore is their personal history and background—facts about their life that they might share with others. Lore can also refer to the history or backstory of a person, character, or imagined world, whether from a book, show, or video game.
Examples of lore
we can now add being cancelled on tiktok to my lore
—@FISHfish, X, 22 Jan. 2025
Like, I've never heard anyone say "Elden Ring backstory" but I exclusively hear people talk about "Elden Ring lore."
—New lore to why Goku is the main character of dragon ball
—If I get high enough, I MAY drop embarrassing personal lore that I should take to the grave, but I am lucid enough to fear the consequences
—
Where does lore come from?
For much of the past few hundred years lore has had such meanings as “traditional knowledge or belief,” or “knowledge gained through study or experience.” These meanings relating to knowledge or tradition are unsurprising, considering that the word comes from the Old English word for “lesson,” or “something that is learned.”
But in recent years, lore has increasingly been used to refer to fictional universes, such as one in which a video game (or an anime show, or a series of books) takes place. Lore is also used to refer to a person’s own history of interests, activities, dating history—anything that sets one apart. It’s a body of knowledge about yourself that you carry with you. Your lore is made up of the stories you tell about who you are.
How is lore used?
Often lore is a shorthand for “details of personal history,” as in “I didn’t know that competitive gymnastics was in your lore." It can also be used to describe a kind of hyperbolic backstory, as though we all really were the heroes of our own stories, as in: “Thank you for sharing that lore about yourself.” Lots of information given all at once can be referred to as a lore dump, a lore stream, or a lore drop. This can mean that a lot is learned at once, but it can also mean that too much has been shared. YMMV on the question of TMI.
